Keno Ticket

You may have noticed that a keno ticket looks a lot like a lotto game ticket. That's because keno is a type of lotto.

You may have noticed that a keno ticket looks a lot like a lotto game ticket. That's because keno is a type of lotto.

A keno ticket usually has 80 numbered selection boxes (1 to 80). Players place their bets by marking an "X" over the "spot" choices on a blank keno ticket. All players place their wagers; the casino draws twenty numbered balls at random. Some keno casinos automatically call the ball draw at predetermined time slots regardless of whether or not players are waiting to place a bet.

Each casino has their own type of keno ticket and sets its own series of pay scale choices called "pay tables". The keno player winnings are determined by how many numbers drawn match the numbers chosen on the keno ticket and according to the pay table selected with regard to the betting amount.

Players will find a wide selection of keno pay tables that differs from casino to casino. There is also a difference in keno ticket and a large deviation in the house advantage set for each of those pay tables. Additionally, each casino normally offers various pay tables and specialty keno wagers for clients to choose from, each with its own exclusive house edge. No 2 casinos' keno pay tables are identical. There are several online and Las Vegas casinos offering as many as 20 or 30 different pay tables from which the keno player can choose.

The name Keno has been changed a few times in the game's 3000-year history, mostly to prevent legal and tax interference. The Chinese invented the keno ticket and game to fund their army and The Great Wall of China.

The keno ticket started out having 120 Chinese characters. The number was reduced to 90 before the game was ‘exported’. The game came to the US with the wave of Chinese immigrants in the nineteenth century. Around this time the game was reduced and the new keno ticket only had 80 Chinese characters.

Despite being illegal, the keno ticket thrived among Chinese immigrants, especially around big cities. English speaking Americans called it the Chinese lottery. Locals became interested in the game, but had trouble reading the Chinese characters used in the game. At the start of the 20th century, keno ticket operators started using Arabic numbers to entice more players.

Nevada legalized most forms of gambling in 1931, but lottery and Chinese lottery was still illegal. To get around this red tape, operators simply changed the name to Race Horse Keno. Each number was deemed to be a horse. When the US Government started taxing off track betting, the name changed again, this time to just Keno.

The next time you are in a keno lounge crumpling your losing keno ticket, let your mind wonder back 3000 years to the Han Dynasty. You are not the first to be lured (and lose) by this game, and you certainly will not be the last!

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